Ash x Digimon Season 5
by marc1986
Summary: This is my take on the fifth season, and the reason that this is a regular theme is that Ash is naturally from the Digimon reality. This Ash has no knowledge of Pokemon or anyone from that universe. One more thing I am wanting to start from the beginning so this story will be on hiatus for a time. At least until the other four seasons are made and submitted, so be patient.
1. Chapter 1

Ash and Delia are from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Digimon - characters and locations is from Toei Animation

Chapter 1

There are monsters among us

It was a peaceful day in town, but no one knew of the two creatures scurrying through the sewer system. In truth the two of them didn't even know where they were going - they just wanted to get away from that place. "Commander, the area has been completely sealed off. All sectors have been alerted. The sector security has been sealed off the sky area." One female assistant stated as alarms blared and lights flashed in the building she worked at.

"The targets are renegades. We must catch them before they get out. Don't you agree, Sampson." A voice said near the man in charge.

"Hmm? Where are they now?" The leader of the group stated to the assistants.

"Trying to escape through area B-7." One of them answered while scanning her computer screen carefully. He thought it over and knew exactly who to use.

"Send Yoshino. Only a high level DATS can capture a Digimon." The man instructed and explained. On the streets several police-like vehicles were driving around town with a message to deliver.

"Attention all citizens. A gas leak has been discovered in the vicinity. Authorities are attempting to remove it. Please return to your homes, or seek shelter immediately." The message said, and a fisherman heard this, but knew the truth.

'Should I get involved in case they need help.' The fisherman thought as he watched the vehicles pass him by. At one of the cornered off spots people were gathered to try to see what was going on, and in that crowd was a trained professional.

"Sorry, no one is aloud in." An officer stated as he watched as a woman in a pink uniform approached the tape. Knowing the drill she pulled out her ID.

"I'm a special agent from DATS. How's the evacuation?" She informed and questioned. The police knew of the organization, and could tell the ID was legit, so one of them decided to reply.

"There's seems to be some sort of hold up just to the south of this area." The officer said while looking in the direction he was talking about. At that moment the DATS member's assistant spoke up.

"Yoshi?" The voice said causing the young woman to pull out a rectangle shaped device from her belt.

"Yes." She answered to the screen.

"We're picking up signs of life 500 meters away." The assistant explained to her.

"Is it the targets?" The agent asked since she wanted this mission to end nice and quickly.

"No. Humans." The creature answered back which caused the woman in the field to by-pass the tape, and go into the park area. "Sixteen humans to be exact." The creature as the other one was running toward the location.

"I'm on my way." She responded and picked up the pace a bit. A few moments later she came upon sixteen humans - all groaning in pain.

"Oh-no." The creature said after catching sight of the field, and was alarmed that two of her kind would do such a thing.

"This is Yoshino, we have sixteen humans down in need of medical attention." The officer said through her ear piece. The young one then walked passed them to see if there was anyone else, but instead found what she was looking for. "It's the targets. Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1, and they are engaging even more humans." She informed them while seeing a yellow lizard and fox staring down a brown haired with in street clothes and a raven haired boy in street clothes.

"I don't know who you are, but your standing in the middle of my turf." The one in the orange jacket said to the lizard before him who growled as a response.

"I can tell that you are a reasonable creature, but I have a feeling that you do not simply wish to walk away." The one with the hat questioned politely since he often tried to avoid a meaningless fight. The mammal's reply was a simple shake of the head.

"This is my training ground. One day I'm going to be a champion ultimate fighter. Fans all over will chant my name. They'll say - Marcus Damon is the best." The one in orange commented to his foe.

"Are those two picking a fight with Digimon?" Yoshino questioned since she did not see this ending well.

"Why are you here, then?" The fuzzy one asked the hat wearer, and even though he spoke as though he didn't like fighting; judging by his stance the human before her he had the potential to be a true warrior.

"I mostly come here to think and for the peace and quiet. Personally, I wasn't expecting to run into a talking fox." The raven haired stranger stated back.

"Dry up. Boy your really full of yourself! Your like all the other humans - all talk and no action; like your friend there." The lizard shouted back at his opponent.

"Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 can talk?" Yoshi questioned since she did not know that he could do that at all.

"Yoshi, they'll destroy the humans." The creature in the device explained to her stunned teammate.

"Keep it up, and I'll knock you out just like I did these guys." The human brawler shouted out to the lizard who wasn't all that intimidated by the threat.

"What you do: just talk them all to sleep?" Raptor-1 questioned back since he was getting sick of the human before him. The other two simply stood there - staring at one another: making sure the other didn't try anything.

"Yoshino." A voice spoke through her com link. "What are you waiting for? Get those civilians away from Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1." Sampson said into her earpiece.

"We can not let this escalate." The voice beside Sampson spoke again.

"I know." He answered back in a mellow tone. Back on the battlefield the young officer decided to follow the order to the best of her abilities.

"Hey, you two, stop right there. You can't fight those creatures. They're too dangerous." She shouted out to the two of them. Her plees were heard, but not headed.

"Huh?! Look toots, I'm the dangerous fighter here, and I don't need any babysitter to hold my hand." The brawler answered back to her with an angered tone.

"He's right. This is between him and me." The lizard stated to her as he kept his eyes on his opponent. The female seemed a little surprised that the humans decided to stay there and fight.

"Do not worry, ma`am. My friend and I are tougher than we look. We will be all right." The one with the hat explained politely to her.

"If that's the way you want it then go ahead." Yoshino said to the four.

"Yoshi, don't take that from them." Her partner explained back causing the huam to try again.

"This is your last warning." She called out to them, but by then it was too late the four decided to fight.

"I don't know what you are, but your going down." Marcus said to the lizard shouted out and charged which the scaly one did as well. To the one with the hat: it was the fox that charged first, and it both fights resulted in a fist to face conflict.

"No way." One of the females at the base explained aloud after seeing the show.

"Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 hit them, but they're still standing!" The other female shouted out in alarm as well. This even got the other two's attention.

"What did we just witness?" The voice questioned to the leader. Back on the battlefield two things happened the lizard and his opponent were flung to their butts while the fox and its opponent simply took a few paces back, and were shocked at the power behind the other's fist.

"Hey, I wasn't ready. I was waiting for you to say 1,2,3, go. Like this - 1,2,3, go." The lizard informed before charging, but his charge was cut short by a knee to the chin.

'He gives new meaning to this level of our kind.' The fox thought before seeing that her opponent was ready for another go.

"What's your excuse this time?" Marcus questioned his foe after feeling good for his counter. Raptor-1 countered with a kick of his own to get some distance from his attacker.

"No more talk." The reptile answered back after getting some distance from his opponent.

"Fine, let's do some real fighting." Marcus replied back before getting into a scrap with the lizard. The hat wearing human nodded to his oppoent, and they started to fight as well. DATS saw this and were alarmed at what they were seeing.

"They are actually matching the Digimon blow for blow. Who are those boys?" The voice stated as he watched the fight - completely interested as to how this will turn out. The battles continued for several hours: clear into the dusk hours. Eventually the four decided to take a breathing break since all of them were exhausted.

"Your pretty good…for a human." Both Digimon explained at the same time as they were catching their breaths.

"You've got some good fighting technques yourself there." Marcus stated back with a nod coming from the other human. The way they were lying was: Marcus, Raptor-1, human, and Vulpin-1. The two knew that these two flesh bags were worthy humans, so they did not mind calling off the rest of the fight.

"Let's call it a draw?" Raptor-1 offered with an outstretched claw; Vulpin-1 did the same with her paw. The humans smiled and decided to accept their offer by holding the creature's hand.

"I'm Agumon." The reptile said to the one in the orange jacket.

"Marcus. Marcus Damon." The human answered back.

"My name is Renamon." The canine said to the human beside her.

"I am Ash Ketchum." He answered back to her. After that the Digimon sat back up, and decided to explain something to them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, boss." Agumon said to the man that was even with him. That word confused the brawler greatly, so he had to call the strange creature on it.

"Boss?" Damon questioned as he got into a sitting up position which Ash did as well.

"Yeah. You see - you're the only guy who's ever matched me blow for blow in fight before, so that makes you the boss. From now on you give the orders, and I'll faithfully follow them." Agumon explained to his partner. Ash turned to the canine with a confused look on his face.

"My explanation will be the same except for the boss part." She reasoned with him. The human beside her only smiled since he understood that much about her. As for Marcus - he still didn't know what to make of the 'boss' roll.

"I'm your boss, huh? I never thought one day that I'd an employee that is as funny looking as you are." Marcus answered back and was enjoying this moment with this creature, but the mood was quickly shifted.

"Freeze, right there!" A voice called out causing all of them to face the girl that they had completely forgotten about. The young lady pulled out a small rectangular device, and stated, "Lalamon, Realize!" In an instant a strange pink/green seed creature appeared causing the Digimon to rise to their feet and the humans to freak.

"What is that thing?" Marcus questioned since, to him, it was even stranger than the two beside him.

"So, are you going to come quietly or do I have to use force?" She offered to the group before her.

"Who is she talking to you two or me?" Damon asked since he often got such a statement from the police from time to time.

"Don't let them take us back, boss, please?" Agumon said back as he worried about himself and his first friend's safety.

"If they get us. Then they will no doubt destroy us." Renamon stated causing the two humans to do something about this.

"Hey, what are you kids doing?" The officer questioned as each of the humans was picking up one Digimon. The both of them looked at her and decided to answer her truthfully.

"I've never had an employee before, and I'm not handing my first one over to you." Marcus explained his reason for doing what he is doing.

"Tell her, boss." The reptile praised his partner.

"Besides, there is no honor in facing a winded warrior. Come find us when they have recovered their strength." Ash stated to the one in pink. With nothing else to say they decided to run from the two new comers.

"Hey! Wait up!" She called out to the four of them, but her partner decided to try a stronger method.

"Seed Blast!" She called out before sending out a barrage of seeds to stop the humans in their tracks.

"Let us handle this, boss." Agumon commented before looking at the canine who nodded in acceptance. "Pepper Breath." He called out before summoning flames to his mouth.

"Diamond Storm." The other called out while channeling some form of energy into her right hand.

"They're attacking!" The officer called out as she saw them getting ready. The fire ball and diamond shards flew at her, but the third creature intercepted.

"Seed Blast!" Lalamon called out, but quickly added, "Yoshi." When the location was surrounded by a thick layer of smoke which the two used as a means to flee the scene.

"They're gone." Yoshi stated to the empty field before her. Later that night the four snuck into the Tokyo tower and went to the top - just to make sure that they were out of sight.

"I got to hand it to you boss. That was a great escape." Agumon said as he gazed out the window at the city before him. His compliment was noted, but it raised a big question that neither human knew the answer to.

"Thanks, Agumon, but there's one thing that worries me. Who are we running away from!" He answered and shouted to his employee which caused the other to speak.

"What are you creatures anyway? Where did you come from?" Ash asked the two of them as he shifted his stare between the fox and the reptile.

"Gee, I'm not sure. I guess we come…from the institution." The dino answered him as he looked at the two humans that seemed so nice. The two seemed even more lost since neither of them knew of such a location. "Please don't let them take us back there boss, please?" Agumon pleaded to his partner with worry in his voice.

'I wonder why she is being so quiet?' Ash thought as he looked at Renamon who wasn't really saying anything.

'That strange feeling that I felt when he was giving me a piggy-back is meaningless. Focus on the task at hand.' Renamon thought to herself as she was trying to focus on the fact that they are wanted Digimon.

"I know that I am not your boss, but you have nothing to fear. We will keep you two safe." Ash said to the both of them which caused the other human to speak out as well.

"What am I getting myself into this time?" He said while raising from the metal bench he was sitting on. The Digimon liked what they were hearing from the two humans that they befriended. "I don't know what trouble your in, but I'll help you out too." He added to his first statement.

"Oh, thank you, boss. I will never ask for another thing again…except food. I'm starved!" Agumon said as he trotted over to his partner, but stopped when his stomach gurgled.

"Well, suck it up, and act like a real man." Damon retorted as he was trying to be a stern boss.

"But, boss, I'm a growing boy!" The digital one shouted out at a level that wasn't very good.

"Keep it down. Someone's going to hear you." The human fighter said back with an outstretched hand.

"But I haven't eaten in so long." Agumon responded before the dizzyiness from hunger was now affecting his balance causing him to bite the closest thing to him.

"Hey, back off!" Marcus shouted out while punching the top of the dino's head with his free fist. The caused the hungry one to release his snack, and concentrate on the bump on his noggin.

"Ouch! Oooch! Eeech!" Agumon shouted as he tried to rub the bump.

"Hey! What's the idea of trying to eat me!" Marcus shouted back in anger to his partner.

"Sorry, but boss, I have to admit that you look pretty yummy sometimes." The Digimon replied back in an honest tone. The canine had to admit that her partner was the same, but such thought were quickly shook away since she had no time for them.

"Okay. We'll try to find you some food, but from now on I'm off the menu. Wait here. Come on, Ash." Marcus informed as he and Ash made their way to the elevator.

"Thanks, boss. Thanks a lot." The reptile shouted with great joy in his voice since he was about to be fed. A thought clicked in the hat wearer's head, and decided to speak about it.

"Listen, I think it's best if you and Agumon stay put, and for no one to see you two." He said to the fluffy one.

"I understand." She said back to him with a monotone voice.

"Right, I'll stay here, too." Agumon said to his emplyoer who accepted that, and continued on his way to the elevator. The two walked to the closest store, and looked around. While Damon had no idea what to get for Agumon Ketchum had a gut feeling that Renamon would like the thing he picked out…at least he hoped so.

'I hope Renamon likes this stuff.' Ash thought after paying and was waiting outside for his friend while looking in the bag at the box lunch and energy drink. His friend basically took one or two of everything, and hoped for the best.

'Hmm, I wonder if Agumon eats any of this stuff.' Marcus thought as the cashier operator was ringing everything up. As he did that a familiar voice spoke out:

"And, uh, add this too, please." A female voice stated after putting her one item with his stuff. The fighter saw the drop and glanced at the person warily, but she was unfazed by his stare. "Is that okay, Marcus Damon?" She asked, and after that the three, Ash accompanied them since he knew it involved the creatures they rescued, sat at a water fountain.

"Yum. I love eating Choclate pudding it makes me feel like being a little kid again." Yoshi explained after taking a small bit of the item she made him purchase.

"You owe me a buck." Marcus informed her while still glaring at her.

"Hmm, tell ya what - I'll pay you back if you tell me where Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 is." She answered back while glancing at the two responsible for the disappearance of the two creatures.

"I'm afraid we don't know what your talking about. Neither of us have heard of a Raptor-1 or a Vulpin-1." Ash said calmly to her since he was trying to handle this situation peacefully.

"And even if we did there's no way we'd tell you." Marcus added with a confient smile since he thought she'd give up, but she didn't.

"I see. Sorry to hear that because now you two have to come with me for witness interogation, Mr. Damon…Mr. Ketchum." She retorted back to them, and it was then the two became interested since neither male introduced themselves to her.

"Hey, how do you know our names, anyway?" The one in orange questioned with his interest peaked.

"I know everything about you two. Ash Ketchum - Born May 1 in Tokyo, blood type A, Otori Middle School eighth grade. Your father disappeared ten years ago, so you moved in with Marcus' family, and has been labeled as a Silverbolt based guy." Yoshi stated about Ash.

'She's good.' The boy in question thought to himself after hearing all of that.

"Marcus Damon - Born April 2nd in Tokyo, blood type B, Otori Middle School eighth grade. Your father disappeared ten years ago as well, and now you live with your mother - Sara, and little sister - Kristy who looks up to you even though you generally act like a jerk. Do I paint an accurate picutre of you two?" She informed of the other male, and questioned to see if her facts were right.

"Who are you?" Damon questioned with curiosity in his tone, and even though there was a part of him not liking how much info this woman had on them he was still interested to know more about her.

"I'm Special Agent - Yoshino Fujieda. I'm with the Digimon Data Squad." She informed them while showing off her badge. The two looked at the item, but now they were even more confused.

"What do you do?" They said as one since admittedly the job did sound sort of cool, but they needed more info.

"Our job is to control creatures known as Digimon who comes from this place known as the Digital World, and we protect the general public from them." She informed the two men beside her.

"That sounds like a very exciting job, but what does that have to do with us?" Ash asked since the two, in his opinion, weren't evil in any way, shape, or form, so what was the problem.

"Those Digimon you two are hiding: I need to get them. Do you know what kind of panic it would cause if the public knew about Digimon? Now, where are they?" Yoshi questioned to them, and both heard an edge in her voice for the last part, so they knew she meant business.

"Maybe he went back to the Digital World?" Marcus stated before the pure hearted one could speak.

"Or maybe your hiding them from me?" The one in pink countered back to them since she knew that no Digimon could do what he just said. "Anyway, Digimon don't eat this stuff. They only eat food made esspessily for Digimon." She informed while going into a standing pose, and pointing to the two bags the males have.

"Special Digimon food? Where's that?" Damon questioned since he was a little mad that he blew all that money for nothing.

"You can't buy it in the store. You can only get it at our headquarters. If you don't return Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 to us: they will starve to death." She informed which neither of them liked the sound of that one little bit.

"Okay. You win. I guess you should show us where you work so we can do a little grocery shopping." Marcus informed her while pulling a sandwich from his bag - ready to eat since he too was hungry.

"Thank you." She said back, and guided the two back to her car. On the drive over there Ash was hoping that if spoke their side then perhaps they would stop hunting Agumon and Renamon, but a part of him doubted that.

"Look at this place." Ash stated after following Yoshi into a room in a skyscraper that held a lot of high tech stuff.

"Fujieda reporting back." She said while saluting to a rather tall man behind a desk.

"So, your Marcus Damon and Ash Ketchum?" The tall man questioned to the two young ones to his left. They glanced at the one speaking to them, so he added, "My name is Commander Sampson. The DATS team welcomes you." The acronym threw them for a loop.

"DATS?" Marcus questioned since the girl said that they were the Digimon Data Squad, so they were a bit lost. The two looked around and saw that there were chess pieces, two more girls, and a turtle in the room, but nothing else.

"Interesting that these are the boys that fought Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 since there's nothing about them indicating that they are able to fight at that level." A strange white creature around Sampson's neck spoke which caused the two to look at him.

"Hey, what's with the talking scarf?" Damon questioned which caused the creature in question to get a little annoyed, but a gentle finger rubbing on his head quelled his temper.

"This is Kutamon. He's my Digimon Partner." The big guy informed the two of them which got the boy's interest again.

"Each human member of DATS is teamed up with their own Digimon. This is mine - Lalamon." Yoshi informed while holding the pink and green creature from before in her arms.

"What? Partners?" Marcus questioned before seeing a black chess piece helping a woman with long purple hair, a white chess piece helping a woman with short blonde hair, and then there was a turtle handing out tea.

"That's right. Here at DATS tamed Digimon and their human partners work together to handle Digimon crimes." Yoshi informed as a turtle gave Macus and Ash their own cup of tea.

"Enjoy." The shelled one said while walking away.

"Thank you." Ash said as he took his cup in his hand, and took a sip. 'I wonder if I become one of them - will they let Renamon be my partner.' Ash thought since this job seemed right up his alley.

"I'm not thirsty." Marcus said to the turtle as he walked off.

"Suit yourself." The helmeted one replied back.

"I've had enough of this nonsense. We have guys waiting for me, so let's get on with it. Just say what you got to say, and stop wasting my time." Marcus informed the man in charge since he wanted to make sure his scaly chum was alright.

"Calm down. Don't get angry. Rather Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 is saved or not depends on you two." Sampson informed, and once he saw that he had their attention he explained what he meant. "WE are currently in the midst of an unprecedented crisis. The wall between the Human World and the Digital World is starting to collapse. The reason is unknown, but the fact is that Digimon are appearing more frequently in the Human World then ever before." After that another one carried on where he left off.

"Our primary objective is to maintain harmony between the Human World and the Digital World therefore renagades like Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 must be kept under control." The small Digimon informed them both.

"Why are you calling them renagades?" Marcus asked as he decided to have his cup of tea after all.

"Because: Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 has already entered the Human World and has made contact with human beings. So, they are no longer allowed to go free." Kudamon explained to them.

"Please cooperate. The future relationship between humans and Digimon depends on you returning Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 to us." Sampson stated, and was hoping that they would comply with his request now that they explained the situation.

"Normally I would follow an officers order to the letter, but not this time." Ash informed as he set his empty cup back on the console.

"Why not?" The taller male questioned him. Marcus decided to let him do the explanation.

"Why not?! Because we don't owe you people a single thing." Damon stated for his friend and got an annoyed groan as a response from Sampson. "I don't know about all this 'the future depends on us' stuff, but we know that Agumon and Renamon depends on me, and no one mentioned what he needs." The fighter added to his first comment.

"He's right. I mean, have you ever thought about why he came to our world in the first place? What if he didn't have a choice? Maybe things were bad for them in the Digital World." Ash added, and after a moment he added, "Either way - we need to hear more before turning them over to you." Marcus liked that, and decided to an honorable statement of his own.

"And if they get into any sort of trouble we'll accept full responsibility for their actions, but only if you give us food for them." Marcus stated to the big guy with an outstretched hand. As if on cue the alarms went off just like before.

"Commander, Digimon detected in area D-59. A hamburger stand is being attacked by an unknown creature." The woman with long hair informed them and brought up an image of a burning building.

"That could be Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1." Yoshi informed while speaking of the only Digimon that they knew of.

'Agumon possible, but I don't think Renamon that much.' Ash thought since the fox probably could go a good while without food, so that just left Agumon.

"Hold it! Didn't you say Digimon eat special food. What would Agumon and Renamon attack a humburger stand for?" Marcus stated and questioned to the lady responsible for dragging them away from their friends.

"You didn't give them anything to eat. Did you?" She stated and questioned back to the two behind her.

"Nothing. Which means if it is them then they are only attacking out of hunger not anger." Ash informed them, but the others didn't see it that way.

"Do you now see how hiding them have created a security breach for all of us?" Kutamon questioned to the two which could understand his concern, but something doesn't sit right with them.

"Thank you for the tea, but I better follow him." Ash said to the commander before following after his brother.

"Marcus. Ash, Wait," The one in pink stated as she watched the two flee the building.

"Yoshino, go after them." Commander stated to her.

"Yes, sir." She answered back before chasing after them.

"Seal off the area, and assess damage control. Emergency level 5." Sampson informed the two desk girls.

"Sir, yes, sir." They said to him, and went to work. The two were able to make it to the tower with zero difficulty, and went straight to looking for them.

"They're gone. They told us they would stay hidden. Renamon? Agumon? Where are you?" Ash asked as he and Marcus looked around the Observation Deck, but found nothing.

"So, this is where you were hiding Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1? A lot good it did because we definetly confirmed that it was them that attacked the hamburger stand." Yoshi said as she stood behind the two of them.

"Quiet!" Marcus shouted at her in anger. Ash recalled the request he gave to them.

"It's my fault. I should have remained here to make sure nothing happened to them while Marcus got the food." Ash admitted to Yoshi. An explosion was heard and seen right below them.

"Yoshi, the Digimon is in are 205. You better get there fast." Her digital partner said through her ear piece.

"Got it. Ash, Marcus look, this is dangerous, so you wait here." She informed, but saw that they were already heading for the elevator.

'Sorry Yoshi, but if those really are our friends then we should be the ones to face them.' Ash thought as the two of them beat her to the elevator.

"Oh no. This is the worst." Yoshi thought and worried for their safety.

"What are you doing? Agumon/Renamon! Agumon/Renamon!" The two shouted out after getting out of the tower and were standing before the blaze. In an instant something appeared behind them.

"You called, Ash?" Renamon requested after appearing behind them which gave Ketchum a bit of a start.

"There she is, but where's…" Marcus stated before they all heard a familiar voice.

"Boss, help!" The voice shouted causing the three to turn and face a yellow lizard with a trashcan for a head.

"Agumon?" Marcu questioned as he looked at the creature.

"Boss, where are you? Keep talking so I can find you." The creature said back, and by then the others knew that it was him. The fighter rushed over and pulled the trash bin off of his employee's face.

"Why did you attack the hamburger stand?" Marcus questioned as he believed that trashcan came from the eatery.

"Huh? I didn't attack anything, but a hamburger sure sounds good." The reptile replied back since his stomach was still running on empty. The other two could tell that he was telling the truth which only confused them even more.

"Then what's that?" Ash asked as he looked at the smoke behind them. In the tower the female officer had to use the stairs to get to the ground floor, but could see through the window that something was wrong.

"Hurry, Yoshi, the Digimon signal is to the southeast." Lalamon informed as her partner came to a stop to look into the smoke.

"That's not Raptor-1 or Vulpin-1." She said since the figure in the smoke wasn't a fox or a dinosaur. Through the smoke came a rather large white chicken cawing out of anger.

"The data signature…it's Kokatorimon." The one with the long hair informed the others.

"A Champion Level bird Digimon." The scarf informed the others.

"So, that's what attacked the hamburger stand. He must be stopped." Commander stated and couldn't believed that even he believed the Rookie did it. On the battlefield the bird kicked a car into the tower which cut off Yoshi's way down or at the very least stalled it.

"Ash, what is that creature?" Renamon questioned while looking up at the beast before them. Ketchum knew that the two of them deserved an honest answer.

"I'm honestly not sure, but I do know that because of him you and Agumon were accused of something you didn't do by DATS." Ketchum stated which caused the two in question to simply think, 'what'.

"Let's go, guys." Marcus said to the three of them, and with that the four charged toward their opponent. The bird saw them coming, and decided to walk away, but the humans grabbed the foot, and started climbing.

"Pepper Breath/Diamond Storm." The two on the ground shouted as they shot projectiles from their mouths and arms. Often Kokatorimon shot a Medusa-like attack, but they were able to dodge, and continue with their attacks.

"Why is Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 attacking Kokatorimon?" Sampson questioned as he watched the footage of the fight, but couldn't understand what he was seeing.

"They haven't been tamed. I don't understand why they are fighting alongside human beings." The small Digimon stated since he was as confused as his human partner. Back at the fight both humans decided to climb up to get in a better position to attack.

"No!" The two shout out in alarm when one of the birds feet landed on their partners.

"Guys, we're fine, but could you lend a hand." Agumon questioned as he and Renamon were trying to keep from getting crushed.

"How about we lend a couple of fists?" Marcus questioned as they stood on the beast's neck - ready to pummel, but the two stalled that by throwing the foot off of them.

"Get off of him! That thing will tear you to pieces!" Yoshi shouted to the two standing to either side of the bird's neck. They could hear her plea, but knew that this fight was more important than their safety.

"What about what we'll do to him." Ash offered and it was then they landed a few blows causing their opponent to take notice of them.

"Besides, the Ultimate Fighter is always willing to make the Ultimate sacrifice." Marcus commented as he started to pound on the poultry.

"Not to mention it is always good to stop rampaging creatures like this one before innocents are harmed." Ash said as he continued to drive it home. The fox could only chuckle of how the raven haired one sounds so corny some times.

"You've got him now, boss." The reptile on the street commented as he watched the two humans bravely punch the beast. The two Rookies became worried when the Champion's tail feathers lit up the way they did, and for good reason as the stone maker sot a strong beam from the beak; swaying his head from left to right.

"Watch out!" Yoshi called out as the beam was in affect which was pointless as both the fox and the reptile were hit.

"Agumon/Renamon." The two humans said as they leapt off of the bird, and rushed over to their respected partners. The two of them tried to wake them up by gently shaking them with no reaction.

"Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 are silent." The purple haired woman comment to the others which none of them cheered or smiled about the news in the least. Back on the battlefield neither Ash or Marcus liked loosing their new friend this early in their relationship.

"Agumon/Renamon." The two said as they leaned over their partners in the rain. They knew that it was avenging time because neither of them felt any air coming out of their Digital Monster friend's noses.

"It's…IT'S FIGHTIN TIME!" Damon shouted as he turned to face the chicken before them. The two teens used a zig-zag formation to avoid getting hit by the beam, and then tried sandwich punching his face.

'That was weird.' Ketchum thought as he felt some sort of energy surge into him after his left fist made contact with the feathered fiend's face; not knowing that Marcus felt the same only with his right.

"My fist." Marcus stated after landed and taking a few steps away from their opponent. Damon saw that his fist was engulfed in orange energy while Ash's fist was engulfed with yellow energy.

"Hey." A new voice spoke, and the two of them saw a fisherman standing in the smoke. "Heads up." He offered before tossing a device to Marcus, and added, "And one for you too." After saying that he threw a device to Ash as well.

"What on earth is this contraption?" The hat wearing youth questioned as he looked at the strange yellow device in his hand; Marcus was just as confused as his old friend.

"A Digivice. Use it in combination with your DNA which is trigger by your fist. By mastering this technique your Digimon can Digivolve." The man explained to the two boys before him.

"Who are you? What are you talking about?" Marcus demanded as he often obeyed his mom's 'don't take anything from strangers' rule as best as he could.

"Use your hearts and your fists to awaken Agumon and Renamon." The man informed the two while disregarding both of Marcus' questions. The two looked at the strange device in their hands, and neither of them had faith that the small device will do as the old man said it would do, but it was their best bet.

"DNA Charge!" The two of them said as they put their glowing hands on their new toy which got the people at the base's attention.

"Both Agumon and Renamon's charge has hit their limit. They've reached their ultimate charge." The blonde worker explained to her boss while checking out the power readings.

"But how? Could it be…" Sampson stated as if having an inkling, but decided not to jinx it. Back on the battlefield the two decided to put that extra energy to good use.

"Agumon digivolve to…" The reptile called out as he felt his power surge, and after the transformation was complete he added, "GeoGreymon." The light faded revealing a rather large lizard before them.

"Renamon digivolve to…" The vulpine called out as the energy entered her body causing her to transform as well. "NeoKyubimon!" The canine called out even though she was a lot larger than a conventional Kyubimon.

"They've been transformed." The two boys, who were now only ankle biters compared to them, said as they gazed in awe at what has happened to them. Kokatorimon fired his beam again, but this time neither opponent felt it.

"Mega Flame!" The orange Champion shouted out and shot a powerful flame attack.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" The yellow furred giant shot nine small fire balls that flowed into the Mega Flame which made it stronger. When the combo attack struck the enemy the bird transformed into an…egg.

"That'll teach ya: don't mess with my employee." Marcus said with a chuckle.

"Or my friend." Ash added with his own chuckle. The two of them looked up at their partners, but saw nothing there. The sound of a grumbling caused them to adjust their sight a bit lower and saw that Renamon and Agumon were back to their old selves.

"Oh boss, I'm hungry." The lizard said to the one with the open jacket which didn't surprise the scraper in the least.

"What else is new? I'm just glad your safe." Damon stated as he looked at his reptilian employee.

"The same to you too, Renamon." Ash said to the taller Rookie.

"Thanks." Agumon replied back while the fox only nodded at the raven haired hero. Back at the base they were making sure that the enemy Champion has been dealt with.

"Kokatorimon is gone. It turned back into a Digi-Egg." The blonde haired woman informed.

"They did it!" The purple haired one praised at the two teens that brought that beast down.

"Get me Yoshino back here, right now." Sampson informed them as he took his seat, and began to think of just went down a few moments ago.

"What are you thinking Sampson? Is it about those boys?" Kudamon questioned to his old friend even though he already knew the answer.

"Anyone who can tame a Digimon, unlock the DNA, and make him digivolve that fast is someone that I want on my team." Sampson informed even though he knew his partner knew that that is what he was going to say. It was around dawn when the flames died out on their own, and the woman in pink picked up the egg.

"Please boss, I can't hold out much longer. I need something to eat." The yellow scaled Rookie commented to his partner since his stomach was really working on fumes.

"Okay. Okay. How about a nice hamburger?" Marcus offered to his scaley chum.

"Ooh, with cheese too?" Agumon questioned back, but Marcus became distracted as he recalled the man that tossed him his Digivice.

"I bought you a box lunch, Renamon. If you are interested." Ash stated to his canine friend while rubbing the back of his neck out of shyness.

"You did not need to…but thank you." Renamon answered back to Ash.

"Just a friendly offer." Ash said back with a smile.

"Earth to boss." Agumon said to his employer once he became quiet all of a sudden.

"Yeah, sure, the works." Damon answered back causing a happy yell to come out of the dino's mouth. The four decided to hang out somewhere else, but as soon as they took a few paces a voice stopped them.

"Hey, wait up, a minute!" Yoshi said to the four that stopped the creature she was holding which they did as requested. "Before. Another Digimon might have attacked the hamburger joint, but Agumon and Renamon still injured those sixteen men. That proves they are a danger to humans. I still have to take them back to DATS." She explained to the two humans, and it was then the two decided to come clean about that.

"Sorry that was our fault." Marcus said to her causing the young lady to gasp in alarm. "Those were some punks claiming to be Ultimate Fighters who wanted to train in my area, so I fought them for it, and guess what - I won." He said which earned him some praise from his worker.

"It will take a lot more than that to bring you down, right boss?" Agumon questioned even though he already knew the answer.

"That's right." The human said back to the dino.

"Marcus is the worst." Yoshi stated with her fingers on her temple since all of this was giving her a headache.

"As for the others. Some of the punks were taking advantage of the confusion and were guiding a few women off path, so I followed and taught them the error of their way." Ash said as he slammed his right fist into his left palm.

"Be that as it may I might as well arrest all four of you." Yoshi said and with that Marcus and Agumon fled on foot while Renamon picked up Ash and leapt away.


	2. Chapter 2

Ash and Delia are from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Digimon: characters and locations are from Toei Animation

Chapter 2

The inner strength of Marcus and Ash

Despite trying to flee from Yoshino and Lalamon Marcus and Agumon were eventually caught while Ash and Renamon went with them willingly. The plant class Digimon put restraints on Raptor-1, and put the torso, but was too scared to put the collar on the canine. "Do not worry Lalamon. Renamon and I will be fine." Ash said to the frightened one which caused her to put the leash on Agumon instead.

'How are those two even friends.' Yoshi thought as she looked at Ash through the rear-view mirror, and heard the kind statement he said to her Digimon. The ride was annoying due to the comments from Marcus, but eventually they made it inside the DATS building.

"Give it a rest, would you. Let go." Damon shouted as he was being dragged with Lalamon walking the lizard in by a leash; the other two followed calmly behind them. They all gathered around Commander Sampson who stood up, and was ready to speak to them. "I said: Let Go!" Marcus shouted while pulling his arm free for emphasis.

"Commander. As you ordered, I have captured the criminals Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 along with their accomplices - Marcus Damon and Ash Ketchum." Yoshi said to her commanding officer.

"Come on! You know that Agumon and Renamon didn't destroy that hamburger stand. So, stop treating them like they are criminals." Marcus said as he did not like all of this one bit.

"That's not what this is about." The pink jacketed one said back as she pushed the angered teen away from her boss. That comment interested both of the new humans, and wandered what else could there be.

"Well, what is the situation this time?" Ash asked calmly since he wanted to prove that even being convicted there were some that could keep their cool.

"There are other crimes, you know. If a Digimon just comes to this world it's a crime, and interacted with humans is strictly forbidden." The DATS worker explained to them which still didn't add up to the two accomplices.

"Are you kidding me?" The fighter questioned before adding while finger pointing, "You guys all work side by side with Digimon?" He was getting annoyed by this pointless discussion.

"If a police car breaks the speed limit to catch a criminal the police officer isn't a criminal too, is he." The floating seed stated to the two helpers of Digital Monsters.

"You do have a point." Ash/Marcus said as one since they could remember at some point or another asking their mothers why the good guys were never questioned of killing perps, so they assumed what the creature said was true.

"Hey, boss, I thought you were on my side." The reptile questioned to his human since he thought that his partner would put up more of a fight for his freedom. The canine simply slapped the back of Ketchum's head with her tail to show that she was miffed.

"Tell them what will happen to Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1, Commander Sampson." Kudamon stated while gazing at the two reckless ones.

"All Digimon who break the Real World law will be returned to their Digi-Egg form. After that they will be transported back to the Digital World where they belong." Sampson explained to them and then saw something. "Why isn't Vulpin-1 wearing the restraining leash that Raptor-1 is?" He asked the two since they should know that it is regulation to use such a thing.

"I know it's regulation, sir, but please forgive me because she…"Lalamon stated but stopped to hear a snarl from the furry one, so she hid behind Yoshi and added, "She scares the pollin from my Petunias." The canine glared at her one more time before calming down.

'Fool, like I would be caught dead in that pet device.' The logical side of the canine's mind thought.

'Unless it was Ash holding the other end.' A darker side, that felt a connection to the human, thought back, and even gave an image to what it meant. A quick shake of the head caused her to enter the present where she saw a white chess piece walk in with an egg.

"Is that really…" Ash said but stopped to recall their earlier opponent disappearing and an egg appearing in its place. They all watched as the knight junior place the egg in a glass tube, and walked away.

"Coordinates are entered and locked." The blonde one said after a few key strokes.

"Transmission coolers are on." The violet haired one commented back. "Bionic condenser standing by." She stated while checking her monitor.

"Digital harmonizer is allighning. Security code recognized." The one to the right said as she looked at her computer screen.

"Digi-Gate: open." The one to the left said as a swirl of unknown energy came from the top of the tube. "Five seconds to transfer.

"3...2...1" The other said as she counted the numbers on her screen.

"Begin transport." Sampson said to the two before him.

"Initiating." The two said before doing the last bit to this job of theirs. In a blinding flash of light the egg was no more.

"Transport complete." The left computer operator explained even though everyone else could plainly see that much. Since he saw the look of awe on the fours faces, so he decided to enlighten them.

"What you have just seen was the Digimon you have just defeated being sent back to the Digital World." Sampson said to them as the humans saw the unknown turtle walk past them with a steaming kettle of tea.

"Now its time for Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 to go back." The small Digimon said causing both boys to seem shocked at what they had just heard. As one was taking her sentence with dignity the other was hooting and hollering about the opposite.

"I'm afraid we can not have this, Commander Sampson." Ash explained as Marcus tried to pry the white creature off of his employee, but Ash on the other hand kicked the pot out of the turtle's hands when it landed - caused a smokescreen.

"Come on, Agumon. We gotta go." Marcus said to his partner.

"It's about time, boss." The yellow dino said as he ran along side his friend. Ash and Renamon followed after them, but Yoshi did the same and tailed all four of them. When they left the older man spotted two objects on the ground.

"Those are Digivices?" Sampson pointed out before picking up the orange and yellow devices. Neither of them have seen either color being carried by any of their men, so that left two options.

"Ash and Marcus must have dropped them when they fled, but how is it possible that either of them were able to obtain one." The 'scarf' questioned since he knew that his partner didn't do the deed.

"Those kids. Full of surprises." The human partner said since he knew who gave them the devices in his hands, and had a gut instinct that his old friend had a plan. As for the four in question: they were able to ditch their pursuers and hide in an old warehouse building.

"Well, nobody spotted us, but now we're stuck here." Marcus said as he opened one of the various doors and took a quick look around to make sure that there were no humans around.

"Why don't we just walk out the front door, boss?" Agumon questioned while walking up beside him before being pushed back inside.

"Are you trying to get us caught?" He questioned while trying to keep his employee away from the door which the hat wearing youth closed for him. "Quiet. There. Perfect." He instructed and stated when he saw a big cardboard box.

"I wonder if you shout try to fit into that too, Renamon?" Ash asked when he spotted the item in question. The yellow furred one saw what they were looking at and decided to make one thing clear.

"Such things are not needed for my type of Digimon." She started to speak before vanishing. "We're pretty good at blending into the shadows." She added before reappearing behind Ash which got a yelp of alarm from him - which she enjoyed.

"Whatever. Let's just get going." Damon said as he had put the box over his partner, and was walking him along with the other two right behind. Eventually they were able to get into town with no one really looking at them.

"Let's go." Marcus said as they were crossing yet another lax intersection. Ketchum was wandering how this did not look strange to others: a walking cardboard box.

"Good idea, boss. No one will think there's anything suspicious about a walking cardboard box." Agumon said as he was looking through his peep holes as they continued to walk forward.

"Shh." The employer instructed as a biker went past them. Ash took them moment to look for his partner, and when he saw those stunning blue eyes he knew that the canine was still with them. "Just be quiet, okay?" He requested as they took a left.

"I'm trying, but my stomach won't." The lizard said back as he walked along behind him. Eventually the group got to their destination, and unshackled their friends. The four then journeyed into Marcus' room, and watched their Digimon partners eat.

"If this is junk food I'm happy to be a garbage dump." Agumon said as he wolfed down some snacks that he picked up on their way up, but Ash still had his boxed lunch and drink.

"They can only eat food made for Digimon, huh? This guy will eat anything." Marcus said as he watched his worker eat. "And her…" Demon stated as he looked over at his 'brother's' friend.

"Thank you for the food, Ash." The fuzzy one said as she slowly, and calmly ate the boxed lunch. She was about to open up the energy drink, but stopped when she heard someone coming up the stairs.

"Ash, Marcus, are you two home?" A female voice stated which got the human's attention. Both feared what she would do what she would do if she saw Agumon and Renamon, so there was only one option - PANIC.

"I'm sorry Renamon, but your going to have to hide in Marcus' closet." Ash said as he guided the canine in, and let her take her seat. The fighter on the other hand just grabbed his friend and shoved him in with her.

"And this time keep quiet." The warrior instructed before closing the doors. By this time a stunning woman with hair the same shade as Marcus' while wearing a simple purple/white outfit.

"Hi." She said to the two of them. As the raven haired one tried to keep a straight face the brown haired youth beside him was showing all the signs of hiding something.

"Hi, mom, what's going on?" The son of the woman before them asked in his best confident tone, but knew that it still showed his fear.

"Well, you're busted. That's what's going on. Fess up, while you two were out getting into trouble I stayed up all night worried sick. Now, where were you two?" She informed and asked the two of them. If there was one thing either of them hated - it was making their family worry, but they knew she would be even more worried if she heard the truth, so they were pretty stuck on what to do.

"What trouble? I don't even know the meaning of the word." Marcus explained while trying to keep a straight face. Inside the closet was the lizard trying to free himself from the canine's grip as she whispered, 'stay still, be quiet' and other words along that line.

"You really ought to buy us both a dictionary." Ash stated as the two began to laugh at their own cover story. The female human on the other hand simply edged in close, and glared at them which they felt and looked back at her.

"Marcus - your standing on a candy bar. Ash - your standing in an empty boxed lunch." She informed them causing both to look down and raise the foot in question.

"Now, where'd that come from?" Damon questioned as he looked at the bar beneath him.

"Hmm, maybe from that pile of food on the floor." The mother informed them as she looked at the heap of empty calories in the center of the room. The others started to sweat, but the native of the house knew what to say.

"Don't worry, mom. We'll clean it up. Well, we better get started, so see ya." Marcus said as he gently showed his mother the door, and shut it behind her.

"Let go!" Agumon shouted at the slender fighter which she did after not smelling the third human in the room anymore. "Aah! Why do you keep shoving me into small places?" Agumon shouted while looking up at his employer.

"Because if anyone finds you two they'll take you away and send you two back to the Digital World." Marcus explained to the simple minded dinosaur. He finally understood that if he went home than he wouldn't hang out with such an amazing human - his boss.

"Well, I don't want that." The lizard answered back while tilting his head a little to the side.

"And I know you don't want that either, Renamon, so the two of you need to trust us. We need to keep you hidden at all times." Ash explained before adding, "Even though you can handle that part pretty well by yourself." She did like the compliment, but said nothing in return.

"Right." Agumon commented with a nod of the head.

"Listen…" Marcus started to speak before seeing that his doornob was moving.

"Marcus, Ash." The human female said through the other side of the door. This caused the teens to panic and stuff them from behind the curtain. "I heard talking. Is there someone else in here besides you two?" She asked after finally getting the door open.

"No, don't be silly, mom. You're just imagining things." Marcus said while blocking her view of the window since he knew that the Digimon's yellow tails were showing.

"Move to the stone deck." Ash whispered to the two before going over to back up Marcus in coming up with a cover story. However by the time he got there she was already telling the two of the agreement that they made.

"I hope you two aren't forgetting the promise we made. We said until the fathers come back: the four of us will tell each other absolutely everything. No secrets." The mother of Marcus explained which caught both of the Digital Monster's attention.

"There's four?" Agumon questioned as he laid on his belly while Renamon was sitting on the railing, and that was when the two of them saw the fourth human - a little girl, who had just dropped a watering can.

"Roof." Renamon instructed and felt like a novice - allowing a youngling to spot her like that. As the two fled upward the little girl ran into her brother's room, and held onto her mother out of fear.

"What's the matter Kristy?" The mother of them both questioned since she wanted to know what scared her child so much.

"There's a giant lizard out there." The youngling explained even though she did see the dog: it was the reptile that scared her more since she knew a canine would never harm a human.

"A what?" The mother asked back before going out to take a look for herself. The two that knew who it was tried to stop her, but the older woman was already at the sliding door. "But there's nothing out here." She said to her daughter and saw nothing out of place except for the watering can lying on the ground.

"I'm telling you I saw it." Kristy shouted back since she knew that she was not crazy. As Agumon struggled to get to the top Renamon simply jumped and was there, but once the reptile got there he came face to face with a neighborhood cat.

"UMA." The mom said after hearing her daughter's argument that there really was something out there. The acronym didn't make since to the kids in the room, so she explained herself. "Unidentified Mysterious Animal like Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. Where did I put my video camera?" She questioned the last part since she knew that another oddity would rake in the bucks, but her train of thought was halted by some rustling on the roof.

"I bet it's that lizard." Kristy said and made a break for the sliding door.

"If there is something up there it might be too dangerous, so Marcus and I will go." Ash explained to the little sister before grabbing the edge of the roof and pulling himself up which Damon did the same. The two saw that Agumon got into a fight with the cat and Renamon 'tried'to stop it, but the three tumbled off the roof and down to the ground.

'That wasn't so bad.' Agumon thought as he landed on the ground - back first. 'That hurt.' He thought after his boss landed on top of him. Ash was right behind Marcus, but to protect his friend Ketchum instinctively held the fox in his arms.

'I could have landed safely on the ground just like that cat. I did not need Ash to catch me.' The vulpine thought before she and the others slipped into unconsciousness with herself still enjoying the hold.

"Are you okay?" Kristy questioned to the four down below. The mother came out, looked down and saw the lizard along with a dog.

"You didn't mention the dog, honey?" The taller woman asked the young one.

"The lizard scared me more." She explained and the two decided to help out the four, but as they were going down to get them there was already a woman on the scene.

"This is Yoshino. The targets have been aquired. Shall I proceed with erasing their memories?" The pink vested one questioned to her leader on the com link in her ear. Several hours have passed and the two awoke to find themselves in their designated rooms.

"Agumon/Renamon?" The two questioned almost at the exact same time before looking around their rooms, but when neither saw anything yellow they left their rooms. Once inside the hallway the two looked at one another and tried to find their friends, but was having zero luck.

"Smells like your mom has made Supper." Ash informed after taking a whiff in the air. Marcus took that as a sign to check the Kitchen since his employee couldn't control his stomach, and would probably make his own food. When the two got there they saw that Agumon was eating, but with others.

"More please?" Agumon questioned as he sat at the table and gave the mother of the house his bowl.

"Coming up." She said sweetly before dishing up another helping. Seeing this caused the human to collapse on the floor out of panic, but the panic wore off quickly and decided to deal with his employee.

"How can you sit here eating with all that's going on?" Marcus questioned as his anger was coming to a boil. The yellow scaled one took the bowl and answered casually.

"Thanks. Because if I eat standing up I don't feel good." The Digimon's comment may have been truthful, but that wasn't the answer the human was looking for.

"That isn't what I meant you Digital Dimwit." The human fighter shouted as he gave his worker a two fisted noogie. His actions were ruining another guest's time with this meal, so she had to speak up.

"Excuse me. You mind keeping it down. We're trying to enjoy a nice meal here." The DATS worker explained as she was eating some of the Damon family's food. "You know - this is the best corndog I've ever had." She complimented to the mother.

"Can you excuse us for a minute, mom?" Marcus said as he took Yoshi into the hall so they could talk a bit in private. Ash remained behind since he was curious about something.

"So…you don't mind if they stick around." Ketchum questioned as he glanced at his friend and the end of the table, even though she would feel better using a private table, eating her meal calmly.

"Of course not. Agumon and Renamon do seem nice enough, and well behaved." The mother explained back and Kristy nodded happily, so with that settled the hat wearing youth joined them on the other end of the table.

"Just exactly do you think your doing here?" Marcus questioned once the two were alone.

"It's not my idea. I came to bring you guys in, but then…" Yoshi explained and then went into detail about what her commander wanted.

"There has been a change in plans. We have decided not to erase the memories of Ash, Marcus, or the rest of the Damon family." Sampson explained which confused the young worker. "But stay there and observe. Keep an eye on Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1, understand?" He questioned to her, and waited for her reply.

"But commander…" She tried to reason with him, but he hung up before she could plead her case.

"That was that. So, I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other since I now have to keep an eye you four warriors." The modern Yoshi explained in simpler terms what was going on at the moment.

"No way. Your not tagging along with me, toots." Marcus said back in annoyance since he hated to have a babysitter hanging around him.

"I don't like it anymore than you do, but orders are orders." The working girl explained back to the rebel before her.

"Then I order you to get out." He shouted back to her since she was starting to get on his last nerve.

"Sorry, I can't." She shouted back to him since he was getting on her last nerve as well. Throughout all the voice raising the five listened to the whole thing, but to try to silence them Kristy excused herself from the table, and…

"You two sound just like an old married couple." She said while walking past them to watch some TV. The both of them heard her, and decided to set the record straight.

"WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!" They shouted at her, and once they realized the two said it at the same time, they blushed, and looked away from each other.

"Let's get back to eating." Marcus offered while gesturing to the Kitchen which she nodded and the two headed to the table. After Supper was complete it was time for bed which Yoshi had Marcus' bed while he and Agumon slept on sleeping bags.

"Ash?" Renamon questioned after entering the guest room, where Ash was staying. "I would like to train you to be a better fighter." She offered once he was looking right at her.

"You mean now?" He asked and received a stern look as his answer. "Sound good. Let's go." He said and the two went out to the yard to start their training. As they trained, slept, or sleep ate at another location was experiencing some problems of their own.

'So, this is the Human World?' The visitor thought after appearing from a portal, and caused some problems. In the morning both Ash and Marcus were getting ready to go.

"Where are you going, boss?" Agumon questioned as his employer and friend seemed to be wearing something totally different than what they had on yesterday.

"School." He answered back calmly.

"What is school, Ash?" The canine questioned as she walked down the stairs. Her partner was about to answer her truthfully, but was cut off by his 'brother'.

"A place where there are tons of people to fight." The fighter of the two said back which excited his worker greatly.

"Oh! Sounds like my kind of place. Let's go." Agumon said as he hopped down to the Welcome mat.

"Yeah, that would be great." Damon answered back since that really did sound like a good idea. His hope of taking his new friend were dashed by their guest.

"Have you forgotten?" Yoshi questioned causing all to turn to her. "If people see a Digimon walking around it will cause a huge panic." She explained to them, and that was when the boys realized that she was right.

"Oh, that's right." Marcus replied back, and could see where she was coming from thanks to his fight with Kokatorimon. At that moment the lizard started to whine that he really, really, really wanted to go with his boss.

"Fine, just be quiet." She instructed before taking out a couple of devices that Sampson gave to her. "Here, use this." She said while giving Marcus his and tossing one to Ash.

"Our Digivices?" Ash asked as he looked at the item. "We thought we lost these." Ash said as he recalled digging through his pockets and even going so far as to take off his jeans and shaking them for good measure; not knowing that he made his partner…uncomfortable while doing that.

"You dropped them during your escape from DATS." Yoshi explained of where they were, and why they didn't have them post the breakout.

"Oh, well thank you. So, how do I use it anyway?" Marcus commented and questioned since he didn't quite get how this little device worked.

"You just point it toward Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 and press the button on the right." The DATS worker instructed to them while watching as they did as they were told. Once they did both watched as their Digimon friends were sent into their devices.

'That was an interesting feeling.' The vixen thought before looking through the small screen and looked up at a huge Ash Ketchum. The reaction was the complete opposite to the yellow scaled one.

"Boss, let me out of here!" Agumon shouted with his claws pressed against his prison.

"Agumon!" Marcus shouted in alarm when he saw his now tiny friend. The worker decided to fill them in on what just happened.

"Digivices can change Digimon into Data and store them, and safety rule number 1 is - keep your Digimon stored." She informed them of one of the important rules of DATS.

"Ash, Marcus, you're going to be late!" The mother shouted out from the kitchen since she still could hear the boys' voices in the house. With that the two said their goodbyes and headed for school. On their way over to school both teens saw a familiar car driving right beside them.

"If you're gonna follow us you could at least give us a lift in your car?" Marcus questioned to the young woman that had been tailing them since the whole mess started.

"Nope, and I'll keep following until you give us Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1." She replied back. Before there could be another argument with the two Ash decided to try a passive solution.

"There has to be a comprimise for this whole thing, right?" Ketchum questioned to her, and that caused her to think of one other thing she had been thinking by herself.

"Well…" Yoshi started to speak causing both to look at her with curious faces. "You could always join the Digimon Data Squad." She explained to them which caught them off guard. "Look it's simple - if you join DATS then there would be no reason for us to chase after Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1. And the best part is that I wouldn't have to babysit you guys anymore. So, what do you say?" She went into detail, and they all liked hearing that, but Marcus was still against it.

"Forget it. I want to loose you: not join you." Marcus said and ran off when the sign told him to. They kept the pace for a bit until something caught Ash's eye.

"What's going on over there?" He asked as he saw police officers talking to people, and investigating on something.

"What's up? I thought you two were in a hurry?" Yoshi questioned when she saw the two standing in front of a different school then his profile informed.

"This is my sister's school." Damon informed before jogging into the yard with Ash right behind him; Yoshi followed against her better judgement. "Kristy?" Marcus questioned when he got closer to where a large group of people were.

"Huh? Guys, over here." The young one in question said and motioned for both teens to come where she is. "Look at that." She instructed once they made their way through the crowd.

"What happened to the animals?" Ash questioned as he and his 'brother' looked at the scorched cages.

"See that boy over there? When he came in to feed the chickens and rabbits this morning they were all gone. No body knows where they went." Kristy explained to the two, and that was when they overheard the officer running the investigation blab that this has happened to another school.

"I have to talk to you." Yoshi said as she grabbed a hold of Marcus' right wrist before they could learn more about this problem from the authorities.

"Where are we going?" He asked as Ash calmly walked behind him, and stopped at a side from the storage building.

"A Digimon is behind all this." She informed them and after seeing the skeptical look they were giving her she went into detail. "Yeah. My Digivice is picking up a residual trace of its energy signature." She informed while showing off her device to the two.

"This place - school is more impressive than you described, Ash." A voice said followed by another.

"You can say that again." The three saw that it was their Digimon partners - Agumon behind Ash and Renamon was kneeling on the roof due to the narrow passage they were in.

"Hey, how did you two get out of the Digivices." Marcus shouted out to his scaly chum in alarm. The reptile pointed out that he hated enclosed spaces while Ash could tell that Renamon didn't mind them one little bit.

"Ugh! You two are a real piece of work. You know there should be a rule where you can't leave your Digivice without permission." Yoshi said to the two and then quickly added, "Wait it was you two that did this! I bet it was you two that attacked these animal pins." This only confused and offended the good Digimon greatly.

"It wasn't them." Lalamon started to speak, and once she had her friend's attention she explained, "I watched him the whole night while you were sleeping, frankly I don't know how you slept with all his snoring, but still he didn't leave the room, and Renamon and Ash were outside sparring with one another. Another Digimon must have done it." Hearing this excited the two fighters greatly.

"HA! You thinkin what I'm thinkin?" Agumon questioned the boss.

"Yeah!" He shouted back with a joyful smile on his face.

"The Ultimate Team! It's fightin time again!" The two said together which only embarrassed Ash and confused Yoshi. Kristy did her best to cheer her friend up which went over well, but her somewhat good day took a slight nosedive when her brother began to shout to her. "Kristy! Don't. Worry. We'll. Get. Whoever. Did. This." The group decided to go to school, and prepare a trap during the night.

"What is it with you and these cramped spaces, boss?" Agumon questioned as he found himself inside the animal pin while his partner was putting on an over complicated lock on the door.

"There's a saying where the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. When this guy finds out that there's something new in these cages he won't be able resist returning." Marcus informed his employee the genius of his plan.

"Wow, you're the smartest guy ever, boss." The reptile congratulated with a big smile. It was then the two girls decided to give him the bad news.

"You do realize he's using you as bait, don't you?" Yoshi questioned while leaning on the cage, and when he gasped in alarm the vixen added a comment of her own.

"That's why your in there and I'm out here." The canine didn't want to be bait, and had a gut feeling that Marcus knew that she would beat him like a cheap drum if he asked her to join his employee.

"I take it all back!" The scaly one shouted since he hated that idea even if his boss thought of it.

"Don't worry. I'll stop the bad guy before he even gets close to ya. Just trust me." Marcus promised his worker that he had the Digimon's back.

"Yeah, well, I'll believe it when I see it happen." Yoshi said since she really had her doubts about this plan. With nothing better to do the four others hid where they talked earlier.

"I hate being cooped up. Locked up like a criminal. Or a chicken. Or a criminal chicken." Agumon complained as clouds covered the light from the moon, and with this darkness their opponent appeared and walked toward the cage, but the others only knew someone was there when the clouds moved from the moon.

"Isn't that the kid that was supposed to feed the animals?" Yoshi said since she was paying attention to what Kristy said earlier.

"My sister's friend." Marcus added while looking at the youth.

"He's seen Agumon." Lalamon pointed out. Ash decided to defuse the problem as best as he could before things got rough.

"Excuse me, son." Ash said as he walked over to the kid while using a standard issue Captain America word. "Did you come to check on the cages?" Ketchum questioned after getting right beside him. "I commend you of staying focused on your job, but I think you should go home. Your parents are probably worried about you." He stated, and prayed that would be enough to move the youth.

"Hey, didn't you hear him? Get out of here!" Marcus said since he could see that the kid wasn't moving even after all that Ash said which was unusual. The kid then told them to shut up, and then he went on a tirade of his responsibility, and how he hated it.

'This human has served his purpose.' The insect thought after emerging from behind the child: which frightened all but Renamon.

"So, you're the one behind all this." Marcus accused as he held the kid that fell unconscious on the ground after the separation. "Well, now you're going to have to pay." He threatened while glaring at the beast, but was halted.

"Stay back. Leave this to the Digimon Data Squad." Yoshi informed while pulling out her Digivice. "Lalamon, Realize." She called out and just like that the pink/green creature appeared.

'Why am I suddenly thinking back to that strange dream again where I walk around with small balls on my waist, and battle monsters.' Ash thought to himself as he watched the fight between a bug and a plant where the Rookie on the field unleashed Seed Blast.

"Don't insult me." The insect roared before shooting some sort of thread from his mouth which caught the Rookie, and then slammed her to the ground. As Yoshi was tended to her partner the other three decided to engage the enemy.

"Guys, wait. Boss, get me out of here first." Agumon said to the three who decided it best to go as four warriors.

"Come on. What was that stupid combination?" The ultimate fighter questioned while fiddling with the dials. The yellow scaled one asked him to hurry, but he wasn't listening.

"Lalamon, time to Digivolve." Yoshi informed when she could see that her friend was semi-awake. She activated her glowing energy and said, "DNA Charge!" This caused the same thing to happen only to a different Digimon.

"Lalamon digivolve to…" The Rookie said as she transformed and ended with, "Sunflowmon." Once again Ash recalled running against a smaller version of that sunflower beast in his dreams. "Sunshine beam!" She shouted out, and the attack hit it's mark.

"Aw, they had all the fun cause your slow." Agumon commented while looking from the inside of his prison.

"Give me a break." Marcus said before realizing, "Renamon, you can just break the lock with one punch." He pointed out, and she knew that he wanted just that, but the vixen had a different thought.

"You bought the lock, so you should know it's simple combination code." The fuzzy one stated which irked him massively. At that moment the group heard a cracking coming from the battlefield cloud, and it was then they saw a large object before them.

'That's from another dream of mine: Cocoon of Evolution.' Ash thought as he, like the others, watched it crack open.

"Oh no, it's beginning to Digivolve." Yoshi shouted out before a massive bug burst from the cocoon. The beast flew over the two opponents which he used the dust on his wings to numb them both.

"We must fight." Ash stated as he watched the insect go high into the sky. Marcus nodded in agrement since he really wanted to do just that.

"Boss, I have to digivolve first." Agumon pointed out to them even though Ash knew Renamon could take on the flyer in her current form. The two did the same as last time, and put their hand on top of the device, but nothing happened.

"What's the deal?" Marcus questioned causing a concerned question from his reptile pal. "I don't know. Nothings happening. I'm not getting that tingly feeling in my fist." He answered while looking at Ash who shook his head no - nothing happening to him either.

"Enough. Digivolve or no digivolve no one gets sucker punched on my watch." Ash called out when he saw the bug purposefully kick Sunflowmon when she couldn't defend herself. The two charged the battlefield, and stood ready for the next pass.

"Marcus, Ash, get out of here. It's too dangerous. You can't handle this. Leave it to trained professionals like me. Go on - go." Yoshi said even though her body was still numb from those strange spores from the beast's wings.

"No, I'll never run away." Marcus shouted back to her which caused her to become silent for a moment. "An Ultimate Fighter never shows cowardice. No matter how difficult the fight might be I stand my ground. That's what a winner does. Fightin time again!" Marcus said to her as he took off running to the bug.

"Myself - I fight to defend the weak weather or not they appreciate the hand, and that goes with my friends especially." Ash explained to her as he took off right after him. As they gave the beast a left/right punch Renamon smashed the lock and Agumon was able to get out.

"Alright." The two teens said as they felt the tingly feeling once again.

"Ready to fight, Agumon?" Marcus questioned to his now freed friend who nodded with a smile on his face. "All right, then." He commented before getting down to work.

"DNA Charge." The two said and just like before the transformed:

"Agumon digivolve to…GeoGreymon." The scaly one called out after going from Rookie to Champion.

"Renamon digivolve to…NeoKyubimon." The fluffy one called out after going from Rookie to Champion. The insect saw the two and decided to engage the lizard who grabbed hold of it with his claws.

'So, this is what he used on Sunflowmon and Yoshi.' GeoGreymon thought as he was starting to feel numb, so he chucked the bug. Realizing that he was outmatched in power the flyer tried flight but that didn't work out.

"Fox Tail inferno." The four legged one called out.

"Mega Flame!" The lizard called out causing their attacks to combine again, and force the beast back into Digi-Egg form. With the danger past the two de-digivolved back to Rookie.

"All right! You guys got him!" Marcus shouted out to the two, but mostly his. They nodded in acceptance that another brother was stopped before he could do serious damage.

"So, your fist of fury and justice awaken your DNA, eh?" A voice called out as the heroes were enjoying their victory causing them to turn to a familiar face. "Your getting more interesting by the minute, Marcus…Ash." The two decided to get a closer look at this guy.

"Hey, you're the old guy who gave us our Digivices." Damon pointed out as he instantly placed the face.

"If you want to become the ultimate fighter, and the ultimate hero who fights the ultimate battle and solves the ultimate problems then your not going to find it in this world, but in the Digital World. There's an unlimited amount of opponent and problems who will test your fighting skills and hero ethic, and make you the best fighter and hero in two worlds." The elder informed them.

'What is he talking about?' Ash thought after hearing his offer while his 'brother' was sold on the idea.

"Then I'll be the ultimate." Marcus commented which earned him a nod from the elder. After parting from him, helping Yoshi and Sunflowmon back to their feet the six decided to go to the Damon house for some rest. In the morning Yoshi took the egg to the base for proper disposal.

"Finally something has gone right in this dibocal." Kudamon stated while adding, "It took all our resources to cover up the destruction from your battle." Yoshino heard this and got a little nervous.

"Don't forget that we at least captured the rouge Digimon and we erased that boy's memory of the incident. So, alls well that ends well." The pink vested one tried to look on the bright side of all of this.

"Don't get cocky." Sampson instructed and she obeyed the order. It was then the small, white Digimon spotted something amiss.

"Wait. If you're here then who's keeping an eye on Raptor-1 and Vulpin-1 right now?" The partner of the Commander questioned since he did not recall hiring a sub for the task.

"Oh…well…actually…" Yoshi started to answer but the door opened revealing Ash, Renamon, Marcus, and Agumon which three of the four seemed nervous about something.

"What are you doing here? Speak up." Kudamon questioned with his own guard on high incase this turned out to be a sneak attack like with the tea kettle the other day - only more devastating.

"Well, guess what? We're gonna do you a favor, and join DATS." Marcus informed and Agumon added some groveling to get the point across.

"What's this?!" The small Digimon shouted in alarm since he would never have seen this one coming.

"If Marcus and I join the Digimon Data Squad then Agumon and Renamon get to stay, right?" Ash questioned while looking the Commander right in the eye.

"Very well." Sampson answered back causing all to look at him with either shock or happy facial expressions. "I knew it would happen. Frankly I'm surprise it took you two this long to ask Macus/Ash." The older man informed before adding, "And as for you Agumon and Renamon you no longer have to worry about being sent home." This made the four very happy.

"We did it, boss." Agumon said to his partner.

"Yeah, and just think of all the bad guys we get to beat up." Marcus said before giving his partner a friendly handshake. Ash simply placed his hand on his partner's shoulder, and said…

"I'm glad we get to continue to work together." She nodded because she liked that as well. Unknown to the four was that there was another coming to work for DATS.

"Approaching destination. We'll be landing very shortly, sir." A blue canine said to a blonde boy as they cruised on an aircraft.

"Thank you, Gaomon. After so long I'm coming home: at last." The blonde boy said as he gazed out the window of the plane.


	3. Chapter 3

Ash and Delia are from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Digimon: characters and locations are from Toei Animation

Chapter 3

The return of Thomas!

'This is stupid.' Kristy thought as she watched as her brother: Marcus, and his partner Digimon, Agumon were gorging themselves at the Breakfast table. She looked at the other two: Ash and Renamon who were eating with a lot more restraint which made the young one even more embarrassed by her biological brother.

"Well, at least Marcus is awake before the crack of noon on a Sunday." The mother of the house pointed out as she looked over her shoulder while in the Kitchen to make more food for them. "I think Agumon has been a very good influence." She stated as she tried to look on the positive of this whole thing.

"More please?!" The two shouted in unison which pleased the woman even more.

"See, he even says 'please' now." She stated before walking over to the table to serve them.

'As if that's a big challenge.' The wily one thought before looking over at her partner who was silently enjoying his meal.

"Here, Agumon." She said before giving the reptile another sample of rice. This angered her older son greatly.

"Huh! You served him first! What did you do: adopt him while I wasn't looking?" The human fighter shouted at her with great anger.

"Keep it up tough guy, and I'll give your portion to him, too. Don't be in such a hurry. After all, Agumon is a growing boy." The mother of the fighter said as she still tried to remain the neutral one.

"If he grows anymore we'll need a bigger house." The DATS worker stated before getting the last thing on the Breakfast table, but was blocked by his own partner. "Let go of it!" Marcus shouted at his partner since he was determined to have the last bit of food.

"Boss, the only way your going to get this last fried egg is to take it out of my belly." The lizard said and was about to eat it until… "Huh? Where'd it go?" Agumon asked and started looking around and did not see it.

"Oh, boys." Renamon called out which caused them to face her. Without a second thought she tossed it to her partner on the other side of the table. Ketchum caught it, and had something else in mind.

"To avoid a fight I will divide it up." Ash said to them before doing just that. Once he was done cutting the other DATS worker gave them to Agumon, Marcus, and Renamon. The two gluttons weren't happy with the result.

'I was hoping to eat it all.' The yellow scaled one thought before eating his piece. Back with the raven haired one he realized that he left Kristy out of his cutting.

"Here, take it. I'm pretty full already." Ash said before giving the young one his piece of the egg. She looked at him before smiling and accepted the offer, and this was one thing that the vixen liked about her partner - he was always trying to be the good-guy. Unknown to any of them their work family was about to get a little bigger.

"The teperature today is 63 degrees, Master Thomas. Somewhat warmer than back in Austria, don't you think?" An elderly man informed a fellow in the mansion's shower. The man got out of the shower, put on his rob, and walked down one of the corridores.

'I wonder if the team is doing okay in my absence.' Thomas thought as he gazed through one of the masion's windows. Back at the normal home the little sister heard a noise outside, so she went out there to investigate which led her to see the strangest of sights.

"What are you doing, Agumon?" She questioned to the digital lizard. Said creature was sitting on a bicycle, and was trying to do the strangest thing.

"Just trying to stuff myself into the front of this here bicycle." Agumon answered her back as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world.

"You might be a tad too big for that." The little girl explained to the Digital Monster who was still hard at work to make his plan work.

'The boss said I couldn't follow him, but he didn't say anything about him following me.' The lizard thought before adjusting the bike the wrong way which caused the still bike to fall over.

"Doof two." Kristy commented after seeing the end result of that plan.

"I guess." The Digimon said back to her as he began to rub his injured nose.

'He is an insult to our kind.' Renamon thought as she watched the whole thing from the roof of her temp home.

'Not that you would object of doing the same if it meant Ash gets a look at your hind quarters.' A small part of the vixens emotions thought to the fuzzy one who resisted the urge to blush at the image of that comment. As she did that Thomas was in his limo - heading to his job.

"Farewell, Master Thomas." Three maids of the mansion stated as they saw him off. As for Marcus, the bike was a bit damaged, so he had to walk, and on top of that there was still another mater to deal with.

"Run, boss. This is good training for Ultimate Fighting." The lizard shouted as he played piggy-back with his boss.

"Why can't you travel in the Digivice like all the other Digimon?" Marcus shouted since he did wish his partner could keep a low profile as Sampson requested. The creature in question heard this and decided to explain that.

"Those other Digimon only show up when they're called, but your lucky. You have me all the time, boss." Agumon stated before going back to enjoying the ride.

"Yeah, aren't I lucky." The human fighter sarcastically commented while jogging with his employee. Ash, who was behind the two, glanced at the buildings and saw Renamon leaping off of them.

'Mine isn't in her Digivice, but at the same time she knows how to stay hidden.' Ketchum thought before hearing a beeping coming from his pocket; Marcus' pocket beeped as well. The two grabbed what was making the beeping, and decided to do something about that.

"I'll just press everything." Damon commented in aggrivation since neither boy knew how to answer that ear device just yet. This idea worked since another voice was heard coming from the device.

"Marcus, Ash, there signs of Digimon near you." One of the desk workers said through the device which excited the fighter greatly.

"Where is it? People might be in danger." Ash asked through his device to the other person on the line.

"Area C-7. Can you handle it?" The woman on the other end questioned since she was unsure if these two were up for the task.

"Yeah, we're there." Marcus said through his device which his worker had to add his two cents.

"Yay." The dino said and with that they hung up on her, and ran to the spot that they remembered which sector was which. Ash on the other hand thanked the fellow DATS worker for the tip, hung up, and followed after him.

"I'm bored." A teen sitting in front of a convenience store said to two others.

"Nothin ever goes on around here anymore." Another teen sitting on the sidewalk said as he too acting a bit sloth like.

"I agree." A new voice said which sort of caught one of the teen's attention.

"Hey, pretty good. How'd you throw your voice while drinking soda?" The second teen questioned one wearing a hat who did not know what he was talking about.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" The hat wearing slacker questioned, but before the other could explain himself they all smelled something burning. They turned to see some trash burning with no cause for it.

"Fire." The three said together and saw some small, blue eyed fire demon emerge from it.

"Way weird." The second friend said while raising to his feet.

"There's our target." Ash called out while pointing at the demon. The loafers saw two boys and two animals race past them and up to that smaller creature.

"Fightin time again!" Marcus shouted out as he saw the next target.

"Oh yeah." The small being questioned as he looked down at his current foes. He shot fire at the humans who began dancing in place.

"Okay, our turn. Pepper Breath!" Agumon shouted as he prepared for his shot.

"Diamond Storm!" The vixen shouted after leaping a bit into the air and shot off her attack first followed by her fire starting chum. The opponent dodged the shard storm, but accepted the fire ball.

"Hey, my attack didn't do anything." The lizard shouted after seeing that there wasn't a hint of damage anywhere on him. "Hey, boss, do that fist trick, The one that makes me digivolve." He said once the humans joined them.

"A DNA charge? Consider it done." Ash said as the two went into a boxing pose and started throwing blows. After the first three the humans realized a fatal flaw in their plan.

"All of our punches missed. Our fists go flying right through that thing." Marcus commented, and with that they continued the same tactic, but with the same result. "It's not solid enough to land a blow." The fighter surmised.

"We have to land a blow other wise Agumon and Renamon won't digivolve." Ketchum stated while staring down the beast before them.

'Take this.' The creature thought after dodging another attack and then spat a fireball at them.

"Stop setting things on fire. I just got these shoes." Damon commented as he tried to stomp out the flames on his sneakers.

"Now be a nice, little fireball, and let us punch you." The lizard said as he punched just like the humans, but with the same result.

'Don't they realize that nothing can-.' The creature thought with confidence before the fourth spoke from above.

"Power Paw!" Renamon called out before leaping off of the building's roof, and made contact with her fist. "I guess mystical flame can harm a real flame." The fuzzy one stated which made the new arrival worry, and fled.

"After him, guys." Marcus called out before giving chase with the other three right behind him. As they were running the three slackers only watched everything, and were still confused.

"What were those things?" The one with a goatee questioned to his friends.

"A fire monster, a lizard, and an attractive fox." The squatter answered back as best as he could even though he wanted to say something more mature than attractive at the time, but chose not to.

"They're called Digimon, and you don't have to think about them ever again." A voice said to them, but when they turned to the source of the voice they were hit by something that seemed like an alien device. "Memory erase - complete. Pursue and secure. Let's go, Gaomon." The owner of the voice said to his partner.

"Sir, yes, sir." The creature said as he got out of the car. As they were tailing the four two of the four broke off to talk.

"Ash, just as we were leaving I heard a vehicle stop beside the building we were at." Renamon informed her partner who seemed confused.

"What does that have to do with dealing with that rouge fireball?" He asked her calmly.

"I smelled a Digimon within it, and I believe it may have been one of us. I suggest we leave it to them. Besides we need to do some digging on that creature." The vixen instructed back to him, and even though Ash really wanted to help he also knew that she did have a point - information was key at this time.

"Very well. We'll leave it to the guys that are tailing us." Ash admitted to her and with that the two headed back to work. The canine, who was racing on the roofs often looked down to her partner, and there was a strong part of her that wished she could walk hand in hand with him.

'I must stop these foolish thoughts.' The fighter thought and focused on getting home. Once there the two decided to hit the library instead of the main room's computer. As soon as they got a few books to read, and were heading into the main room they saw that the other two made it in.

"I am exhausted. Phew!" Marcus said after sitting in a computer chair backward.

"Don't worry, Marcus, you didn't let us down. No one here at DATS thought you could do it anyways." Yoshi commented before taking the offered tea, and took a sip. 'I thought that Renamon and Ash could. I wonder why they gave up like that.' She thought while looking at the two that were quietly reading.

"Huh?!" The human shouted out in surprise over what she just said.

"Mission complete. Digimon secured." A blonde boy said as he walked into the room and placed the egg beside Yoshino for her to deal with it from there. The arrival of this new guy caught the four off guard a bit.

"Hey, who are you, blonde?" Marcus questioned as he rose from his chair. The answer did not come from the third boy in the room, but rather the desk jockies.

"THOMAS IS BACK!" The two squealed for joy which gave the female fighter an uncomfortable shiver since in Renamon's mindset - women should just be as intimidating as men; not fan-girls.

"When did you get in?" The purple haired one questioned with clasped hands.

"This is such a pleasant surprise." The blonde girl said with her own hands clasped. Ash and Renamon focused on their books while Marcus was getting frustrated at this display.

"Hey, Renamon, check it out. There's a new Digimon here, too. Hi there, pal." Agumon said to the blue boxing canine who simply walked past the two of them and over to the blonde. "No birthday present for that guy." The reptile said after getting snubbed.

"Hey, you. When we talk you listen." Marcus shouted out after getting near the new guy, and pounded his fist onto the console for emphasis. His brother and the brother's partner decided to stay out of it…for now. "Well, want to start something?" Damon questioned once the new guy turned to face him, but was offended when he was ignored.

"Commander Sampson, sir. Thomas H. Norstein, I arrived from DATS Austria. Ready to report for duty." The blonde said while saluting to the man behind the desk.

"It's good to have you here." Sampson said back before sitting down while not looking away from the old friend of this place.

"I spent most of my flight reading your most recent reports. It seems there has been an unusual large number of appearances lately." The studious one pointed out to the leader.

"He's so on top of things." The blonde fan-girl squealed.

"He so is!" Her friend agreed with both of them nuzzled pretty close. Seeing this annoyed Marcus and Renamon for two totally different reasons. Marcus didn't like that the two desk jockies were obsessing over someone new. Renamon just didn't like this type of female at all, and didn't want to be in the same room as them.

'Still, you have to stay put just to make sure they don't try anything with your Ash.' The softer side of the furry fighter thought to her, but was somewhat ignored by the rest of the mind.

"Hmm? So, do you think these numbers could eventually the Data Squad?" Commander questioned to the more experienced of the four.

"No. But of course that all depends having the right team in place." Thomas answered back and the two of them heard a strong, and purpous coughing going on.

"Oh? Go ahead and introduce yourself, Marcus. You too, Ash." The older man said as he looked over to the human to his right. Ash put down his book about a different blue Digimon dog, and did as he was told.

"Huh? Say what! Why doesn't he introduce himself to us. We're the ones with seniority even if it is three days. Who does he think he is? Look, kid, Ash, Renamon, Agumon, and I are the top fighters around here, so don't you forget it." Marcus shouted out and the other new guy really wished his brother could cool it every now and again.

"You are completely out of line. Marcus, Thomas is yours and Ash's superior - deal." Sampson informed which shocked the fighter of the two, but not the honor bound boy.

"Marcus, Thomas was part of the Japanese division until six months ago working to control Digimon and assisting in the implamentation of transfer devices. We were having production problems, but Thomas discovered the flaw in the operating system within in hour." Yoshi explained what her boss was saying to the new ones on the job.

"But, I…you mean I have to take orders from him." The Ultimate Human Fighter stated, and could not believe that Yoshino wouldn't tell this guy all the things he had done.

"It's no surprise. Thomas graduated from the Stockholm University of Science when he was only 13. He's a genius." The one with short yellow hair explained to the two other boys.

"Genius?" Damon questioned and did not like where all this was going.

"That's just the beginning. He's also part of a prominate noble family in Austria. A real life Prince Charming." The one with violet hair informed before the two did a high pitched squeal of delight and giggles.

"Prince. Ugh!" The fighter said in disgust before glaring at the glory boy.

"As for Thomas' partner: Gaomon - his abilities in battle are unmatched by all the Digimon partners at DATS." Sampson's partner explained while thinking, 'Until Renamon came along that is.' As he gave the woman in thought an apologetic look.

'I don't care what that mutt can do. I'd still win in a fight considering he's too worried to break a claw with those boxing gloves on his hands.' The vixen thought and went back to reading about the Digimon Sovereign, and for some reason felt like she had met them.

"They are easily the best team we have." The serpent like creature said to them.

"Oh yeah?" Agumon questioned back and thought of that more of a challenge then a fact.

"Unlike some teams. They have got disciplan." Sampson said to the two humans who were both getting a little sheepish.

"Commander, please allow me to say a few words about the new recruits. Based on my first impression I feel they could never benefit DATS in anyway." Thomas said which caught both of their attention.

"Take that back!" Marcus said as he demanded an apology for that crack.

"You see? I recommend he be dismissed at once." Thomas informed his commanding officer.

"Say that to our faces. Look us in the eye. If you have the guts." Marcus said as Ash walked over to him, and the two stood shoulder to shoulder.

"Very well, you two and your partners are not suited to serve here at DATS." The blonde boy stated to them flatly.

"Thomas." Yoshi said and was offended by her friend's comment. While his fan-girls were all for it.

"Well, tough guy?" Damon questioned to Thomas.

"Let him have it, boss." The dragon egged the human on.

"Dial it down, Marcus. I mean sure he has the brains, but the four of us have the brawn." Ash stated, but was ignored and the two started a discussion of Thomas talking down to Marcus' fighting skill. After the last sentence was flung they all headed to the gym for a boxing match.

'I'm gonna punch that smug smile right off his face.' Marcus thought as he put his boxing gloves on.

"Marcus, if you don't mind I'd like a shot first." Ash stated while putting on some white wrappings on his wrist and fists. Seeing the look of determination in his eyes Marcus allowed it.

"Those aren't regulation gloves." Thomas informed as Ash leapt into the ring.

"I know, but they make fighting a bit more fun, or are you just finding a technicallty so you don't have to fight?" Ash stated back and got an annoyed look from the book worm who decided to allow it just to prove he can beat Ash no matter what.

"Beat him, Ash." The vixen said before the flower creature rang the bell. Ash led the attack with a couple of punches that just grazed the cocky one.

"What made you DATS in the first place?" Norstein questioned which caused Ash to glance over his shoulder to the fox at the bell table, but had an idea.

"I'll tell you only of you beat me." Ketchum offered, and stood ready for a blow from Thomas. Norstein punched the hero in the stomach which caused the fan-girls to squeal at the one punch victory.

"You must have bad reason to join. DATS has an important mission to carry out. Every member has an obligation to give everything they have for the success of that mission." Thomas said as he watched Ash slouch a bit, but that's all his blow did.

"That all you've got?" The raven haired fighter questioned without a hint of pain in his voice at all. This surprised Thomas and forced him to take a couple steps back for protection.

'I don't get it. He didn't even flinch. I'll just have to…' Thomas thought before punching Ash in the face which the girl's cheered for. Still, Ash's body wavered slightly, but remained standing.

"I didn't know headshots were ok. Thanks for showing that to me." Ketchum said with Thomas's glove still on his face. This was still a surprise to Thomas, his fan-girls, and Gaomon.

'Is he even human?' Thomas questioned in his mind while looking at the bruise on the hero's face, and still couldn't believe Ash hasn't fallen yet.

'Time to try something I saw on a comic once.' Ash thought before punching Thomas right in the face, and with just that one blow the blonde human fell to his back. Everyone saw that he was out cold, and all were stunned by this.

'Well done, Ash.' Renamon thought as she watched him leave the ring and walk over to her.

"I couldn't have handled him if it wasn't for our sparring time." Ash said to the canine before adding, "Now, if you'll excuse me I have to find an Antarctic ice pack." He left the room to find said item, and after coming too Thomas started his match with Marcus; asking the same question along with giving the same speech.

"That guy." Marcus commented out of anger as he sat in on of the main room's chairs.

"You should be happy your match was a draw. I've seen Thomas routinely beat Olympic Champions in that very ring." Yoshi said with First Aid kit in hand - ready to deal with those two brusies on his face.

"Whoop-de-do. I've routinely beat the toughest guy and Manodo High School. Ow." Marcus said back to her, and wondered why his head punch didn't end like Ash's did.

"Marcus, I'm not impressed by your bragging, and Thomas isn't even in the room." Yoshi said after applying the first band-aid. As if on cue the two in question walked in with Thomas also having two face blemishes.

"Oh boy." The female human fighter commented as they two glare at each other. It was then the regular lights turned off, the red lights turned on, and the alarm went off.

'Time for some real action.' Damon thought with a satisfying grin.

"Commander! There are Digimon signs in B-82." Megumi said after getting to her post and checking on her computer.

"Beginning Digimon analysis. Transferring to monitor." Miki instructed and the commander saw the information on the overhead monitors.

"Looks like, Demimeramon." Sampson stated after seeing the image on the screen. Naturally he thought nothing of it since his prized fighter had already beaten it.

"Multiple Digimon signatures, and they're increasing." The blonde desk worker explained to them as she saw more and more blips appear on her screen.

"Rapidly too. 36, 48, 62, almost 100." The violet desk worker said as she tried to count up all the dots, but last track after 100.

"Wait, I've read about this." Ash said before picking out the right book, and recited from it: "A Demimeramon can regenerate itself over and over again. Multiplying hundreds of time as little as a half an hour." This is what got his brother's attention.

'This is my fault.' Marcus thought with a slack jawed expression. Said expression did not go unnoticed.

"Something on your mind, Marcus." Kudamon questioned the teen who got the idea and shut his mouth from slack jaw mode.

"And now, the Demimeramon has been left on his own to multiply at will." The commander informed the others which didn't fill the others with any confindence.

"Sir, allow us to handle this." Thomas volunteered first off.

"We'll get it done." Gaomon added to try to cement their deployment.

"Pursue and secure." The white clad Digimon instructed to the two.

"Hey! Hold on a second - that's our case." Marcus shouted so both Sampson and the yellow haired boot licker could hear him.

"That's right." Agumon shouted out since he believed that he could take the eye level canine in a fight, but not his sister: Renamon still scared him.

"Are you 100% sure you can secure the Demimeramon without screwing it up this time?" Thomas questioned to the four by the door.

"We wouldn't have to secure the Demimeramon if you had the sense to scan the area and make sure all of them were eliminated in the first place. So, in a way this is your fault as well." Renamon commented.

"She is right. I mean after dealing with that one, and if you were as smart as you claim, you should have known that tidbit and made sure there were none left before." Ash added which angered Thomas greatly.

"No, I'll go." Norstein replied back and walked past them.

"You can't handle that many alone. We'll help." Marcus offered since he belived the might of a fox and a dragon could aid a mongrel.

"We're fine." Thomas said back when in reality he didn't want Ash showing him up - like back at the boxing ring.

"Well, guys, we're not going to let them have all the fun." Ash said with a smirk and received a 'no' shake from Marcus and Agumon, so the four of them raced to the door to join him anyway.

"Stop right there." Sampson ordered to them causing the small band to stop right at the door, and glance over at him.

"This time: Thomas and Gaomon are the best team. That was a comment that the neither the non fighter or the fighter would not have expected from their commanding officer.

"Then what does that make us?" Damon asked the two highest of personel in the room.

"Yeah, we're great." The dragon commented to the two before them since they all turned to face Sampson.

"That is a direct order." The tall human stated to them in a calm tone.

"The four of you should observe how Thomas and Gaomon operate." Kudamon informed them causing his partner to speak.

"Right. Yoshino I want you and Lalamon to go and assist." Sampson said to the two other field agents.

"Yes, sir." The one in pink said with a salute before racing out the door.

"Do not worry, Marcus. There may be other battles for us." Ash offered with a gentle hand on the fighter's shoulder. As for the current battle Gaomon and Thomas arrived by a body of water where the tiny fireballs were just floating in the sky.

"Gaomon, now." Thomas issued to his partner.

"Yes, sir." The blue dog answered back. Three of them heard the voices and decided to attack.

"Initiate, Plan A." The human said causing the Digimon to take a few paces forward and counter their fireball attack.

"Double backhand." The Rookie shouted and formed a twister which dealt with the enemy attack. Seeing this caused the three Demimeramon to fall back with the others.

"Plan A-2." Norstein said as he went with Champion level. "DNA Charge." He shouted after making his hand blue with a snap of the fingers, and slameed that energy to his digivice.

"Gaomon digivolve to…" The Rookie shouted before feeling the transformation take hold. "Gaogamon." The blue coated, four-legged creature shouted once the transformation was complete.

"Initiate plan." The partner said to the dog before him.

"Spiral Blow." The Champion shouted and fired a tornado through his mouth. The attack took them all down in a single attack.

"Well done. Perfect teamwork. Like always." Yoshi said as she put the eggs in the back of one of their small cars.

"Three minutes and ten seconds. We beat our old record by over a minute." Thomas said to his partner.

"Sir, yes, sir." Gaomon answered back since he was always glad to please his partner.

"Demimeramon in area B-17." Megumi said to them through the com link.

"Gaomon, let's go." Thomas instructed.

"Sir, yes, sir." The Digimon answered back, and after boarding the car they headed over to the next spot.

"It's as if Thomas and Gaomon never left." Sampson said as he and the others were watching the whole thing back at the base. The fan-girl still idolized that abandoned the Japanese division for a bit.

"Cute?" Agumon questioned after repeating the last word that Megumi said. Sadly the scaly one could not see that at all.

"You see? There's a huge difference between your teams and Thomas and Gaomon's team." Kudamon informed the four that were assigned to remain behind.

'Still can't believe that they think he is the best, and won't shut up about it.' Renamon thought out of anger, but decided not to show how she felt.

"Boss, wait for me." The yellow scaled one shouted as he gave chase to the fleeing human with Ash and Renamon following after them.

"You're not going to say anything?" The white Digimon questioned with concern to his partner.

"Not yet." The human half said back since he had a gut feeling a friend of his would put them back on the right path - at least for now. The four of them raced into the garage.

"Don't be upset, boss. Just because Thomas is better than you." Agumon pointed out as they were running.

"Says who?!" Marcus shouted back before tripping over his own two feet and face planting on the ground.

"I'm sure Agumon didn't mean that Thomas crack. I'm sure your better than him." Ash pointed out as he and the others stopped around their friend.

"No, I'm not. I'm just pig-headed and I let my pride get in my way." The fighter said back as he tore away a band-aid. "It's time I realized it - I still have a lot to learn. Face it: I'm not the Ultimate Fighter." Marcus said as he stood up, and walked out the doorway with the other three right behind him.

"Ugh, stupid fire." A man said, and this man is someone that both Ash and Marcus has seen before.

"What are you doing here, sir?" Ash questioned while taking a close look at the small metal pale he was sitting in front of.

"Just what it looks like - barbequing a fish for dinner. I'm having some trouble starting the fire though. You see the flames keeps dying out on me because the wind is so strong, and it keeps blowing it out." The older man explained as he fanned the flames for his fish.

"Yeah, that's happened to me too." Marcus stated as he believed this was a food talk, and nothing else.

"Well…if you learn to use the wind instead of fighting it then you can make the fire burn brighter than ever before. Harness power. Don't extinguish it." The elder informed the heroes which they understood that this had something to do with them.

"He's right." The four mutter before being alerted of another development in the Demimeramon thing.

"Thomas, Digimon signs in B-42." Sampson said to his best fighter.

"What? That's where they keep all the gas tanks." Thomas said back and seemed a bit worried.

"We're still fifteen minutes away from the gas tanks." Yoshi said while driving to the spot. This caused the four to look at one another to see if they knew what to do.

"Leave everything to us." Marcus said through his device that the others heard.

"What? But Marcus." The driver said back in a confused tone.

"Stay away." The blonde fighter said to the new guys.

"Pipe down. We can be there in three minutes." Damon said as he saw the factory they spoke of just ahead. "Come on, guys." He said to the other three who chased after him not knowing the smile the elder was making after biting into his fish.

"You're disobeying a direct order." Sampson shouted through his com link.

"Sorry, sir, but we are your closest agents, so just trust us." Ash said as they ran toward the fighting area.

"Don't worry. This time we'll get that little fireball." Damon added before hanging up.

"Oh no. Not again." Yoshi said after the hang up.

"There's no way they can secure all those Demimeramon by themselves. There's too many." Norstein said since he still thought little of the four, and as for them - they all made it to the last of them.

"Agumon, use your Spit Fire Blast." Marcus requested for his employee to use a Fire attack on Fire creatures which didn't seem right to the other three. This disbelief was strong at the base as well since they believed his plan was to blow up the gas tanks.

"But boss, Fire attacks don't work on those guys." The lizard tried to reason with his leader on a different attack: such as the stone move from Renamon.

"You heard me." Marcus shouted back, and since he didn't want to disappoint:

"Spit Fire Blast!" Agumon shouted and aimed at one of the three. He was then ordered to attack, and after two more attacks something happened - the three were becoming one and then…

"Demimeramon digivolve to…Meramon." The fire creature was now human in appearance, but with the same blue eyes and stitched mouth.

"He digivolved - now what?" The lizard questioned not knowing that the other three saw this as a good thing.

"Hey, heat-blast, come on: put one in here." Ash called out as he pointed right at his chest. The monster looked down and decided to do what he does best - attack.

"Just like the old man said: 'a fire can be blown out by the wind' then again…" Marcus explained to his worried worker before leaping into the air with Ash right behind. "You know what I always say…" He added, but stalled as the two of them punched him in the chin, came through the flames, and stood with Charged fists.

"You've got to fight fire with fire." The two of them said before adding, "DNA Charge!" With that the two felt that familiar feeling once again.

"Agumon digivolve to…" The Rookie said before adding, "Geogreymon." The bigger dragon stood ready to blast.

"Renamon digivolve to…" The furry Rookie said before adding, "Neokyubimon." The four legged fox stood beside the three horned titan. The two of them did what they do best - stop evil Digimon.

"Mega Burst!" The dino shouted before unleashing a beam attack.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" The fox shouted as she added her mystical fire balls to the beam attack. The combo once again took down another Champion - reducing him to three eggs.

"They overpowered Meramon's flame. I didn't think they could do it." Kudamon commented since they no longer saw any Digimon signals except for the good guys on the screen.

"All Digimon signs have left the area." Miki said as she double checked the area.

"Marcus and Ash proved that they could do it." Megumi commented in an amazed tone while Sampson gave them a 'humph' for what he saw. On the battlefield the three were carrying the eggs to an already full car.

"Thomas, weren't you the one that said we could talk on the Demimeramon?" Damon asked after opening up the hatch and felt pretty sure of himself over what he had done.

"Don't get cocky. You two just got lucky - that's all." Norstein said back while looking away at the two that defied another Champion level.

"Huh, yeah right. It's just like I told you - never surrender a fight." Marcus said back as he was referring to his fight with the book worm which Ash had to miss as he was icing his gut and face..

'This is going to be a cramped ride back.' Yoshino thought as they all got in the vehicle, and eventually made it back. After sending the eggs back Thomas had to get something out into the open.

"Just as I thought - you had no plans and no tactics. You just had raw power." The brainiac explained to the two other male humans: Marcus more than Ash. This caused the two to start talking to one another - a conversation that got on Sampson's nerves.

"Stop fighting now!" Sampson bellowed which got everyone's attention due to the volume that he used.

"Uh-oh. I haven't seen him this mad in a long time." Yoshi said as the others were recovering from the shout.

"Marcus, Thomas - from now on you two, and Ash will be partners." The Commander explained which surprised the three in question.

'Oh yeah. This'll be fun.' Ketchum thought as he listened to the two's reasons why they can't work together.

"That is an order." Sampson said to them causing the two to glare at each other for a moment and then look away.

"Oh man. This is the worst." Yoshi thought out loud, and the others couldn't agree more, but the Digimon prayed that this was a good idea.


End file.
